Literacy

Professional Development

Teaching Science in February

Be set for science in February as you dig into topics such as dental health, reptiles, amphibians, and rocks and soil! Your little learners are sure to love these hands-on activities. You can easily integrate literacy, too!

Are you needing some fresh, fun ideas for science in February? Let me share some ideas that are perfect for first grade science this month! This unit comes with a detailed curriculum map for the month so you’ll know exactly where you’re going. It also has a weekly guide to help you with lesson plans. […]

Teaching Science in December

These science activities for December are perfect for your first grade class! From reindeer activities, to snow activities, to birds, and mammals your students will be set! Anchor charts, close reading, interactive notebook pages, and experiments are all included! Read more on the blog post for first grade!

 First Grade Science for December has so many activities for science and activities that allow for integration into reading and writing. Your little scientists will master the content in a snap! The topics covered this month are: Reindeer TEKS: 1.10A, 1.10C, 1.10D Mammals TEKS: 1.10A, 1.10C, 1.10D Snow TEKS: 1.8A, 1.8C Birds TEKS: 1.10A, 1.10C, […]

Teaching Science in November

Science for November is filled with activities to engage your first grade students! From pumpkins, to weather, to turkeys, to seasons, there are 4 weeks of engaging activities to help integrate science and create excitement!

Friends, I don’t know about you, but I think fall is such a fun time in the classroom! Teaching science in November is one of my favorites. I want to share what I have up my sleeve for you guys for this month. My First Grade Science for November unit is jam-packed with engaging and […]

Ideas for Teaching Science in October

Fall is the perfect time to dig into bats and spiders! October science has these engaging topics and force, motion and energy! Experiments, close reading, interactive notebook pages, and more are all included to make science a breeze for you and a hit with students!

It’s that time of year when things are starting to settle for everyone. The routines are familiar. Sometimes a little too familiar. It’s my favorite month to teach because we are truly becoming a little family by now and there is so much fun to be had as we integrate themes into our standards!  If […]

Ideas for Teaching Science in September

Teach science and integrate literacy with this unit! You will have everything you need for apples, matter, magnets, and fall! Interactive notebook activities, science experiments, lesson outlines, anchor charts, and much more are included!

I hope all of you who have started back at school have had a wonderful first few weeks! I know for me when September rolled around, I was still trying to get to know my students and fine tune our routine. If I planned out my day well and prepped all of my materials, it […]

Teaching Science in August

Be set for August and start the school year strong be tackling these science concepts! Your first grade and even kindergarten students are sure to be engaged with these science experiments, shared reading poems, interactive notebook pages, and much more!

August will be here before we know it! I know how crazy the beginning of the year can be. Getting to know new students, organizing materials, and mapping out your curriculum for the new year can be overwhelming. I want to share something that I think will be a gamechanger for teaching science in August […]

DIY Earth Day Necklaces

Create your own earth day necklace with this simple DIY tutorial. Kindergarten and first grade students are sure to ben engaged as they complete this earth day activity.

With Earth Day around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to share this DIY Earth Day Necklace.  I got this idea from a great teaching colleague.  You know the kind.  The kind that you would team teach with any day, go to when you have an idea, but just aren’t quite sure […]

Teaching Science for April

Be set for science for April with your first grade class! This unit has life cycle activities, farm activities, earth day activities, and rainforest activities. From science experiments for first grade to close reading for first grade, you are sure to be set!

April is such a fun month for science! The topics covered for this month are farms, recycling, life cycles, and the rainforest. These work so well for teaching our science standards this month. I’ll show you how my Science for April bundle will bring these topics to life! I grouped these topics together because it’s […]

How to Use Science Read Alouds {& FREE List of 100+ Science Books by Topic}

Using read alouds during science not only hooks your learners, but benefits your ELL students, too! This huge list of books gives you great read alouds for every science topic for kindergarten and first grade students!

Do you struggle to get to science every day? Do you find your students needing more support to master science content and vocabulary? One way I love to tackle science concepts is through read alouds. There are so many beautifully illustrated and well-written nonfiction and fiction books out there to help teach our students many […]

Class Science Journal

Get started with a class science journal for your little learners with these simple instructions! See how this teacher incorporates interactive and shared writing into her routine!

My first year of teaching, I had a fabulous science instructional coach at my school.  He was really great at pushing me, which just made me a better teacher. He encouraged me to do individual science journals with my kindergarten kids. I wasn’t sure if my kids were ready to write in their own journals […]

Solar Eclipse Activities for Primary Learners

It’s here! Seeing a solar eclipse is not something that happens every day! Years ago we were able to catch a solar eclipse at 100% totality here across America.  How awesome was it to see something like this? The science nerd in me just loves it! You may be wondering, “How can I explain this […]

3 Favorite Lesson Hooks

Hooks for lessons are important! Be creative with them and check out these 3 simple, free, lesson hooks!

Hooking students at the beginning of a lesson can be a make or break moment.   It’s the time that you truly create buy in for the topic you are teaching. I would do my best every day to make the hook of my lesson engaging and to truly capture the attention of every child. Here […]

Teaching Science in March Made Easy

Students will enjoy exploring plants, plant parts, insects, insect life cycles, water, clouds, and living and nonliving things all month with Science for March! They will stay engaged through whole group and independent activities, science experiments, shared reading, and close reading activities, too!

Spring in the classroom means tons of fun is in store for science! Clouds and water, living and nonliving, insects, and plants are all topics that we cover as we teach our science standards. I wanted to show you just what I have up my sleeve for spring science for March!  What I love most […]

Teaching Science in January

Teaching science is made a breeze with these engaging teaching ideas for arctic animals, penguins, day and night, and the sun, moon, and stars!

January was always a fun time in our little classroom! The little learners come back and are so refreshed, they have somehow magically grown so much over the two week break, we are reading well, writing well, nailing math concepts, and it’s the perfect time to begin to dig deeper into science concepts. My little […]

The Making of a Snowstorm: A FREE Science Activity

This snowstorm in a jar experiment is perfect for any classroom! It's is perfect for going along with seasons activities or snow activities!

Bringing science to life in hands-on ways is so important for our little learners. When it comes to teaching about weather and seasons, my students are always glued. I think that’s mostly because we don’t have all types of weather where we live.  It’s mostly hot and hotter! Because of this, we do a lot […]

4 Tips for Implementing Science Experiments

Implementing science experiments doesn't have to be hard. These tips are great reminders for science experiments with kindergarten and first graders!

If there was one sure way to engage my little learners, it was to do science experiments! Their eyes just lit up when I told them we are going to implement a science experiment. It’s definitely a moment that made my teacher heart so happy–and forget all the craziness of our day! There were 4 […]

The Basics of Anchor Charts in the Classroom

Anchor charts are used every day in classrooms, but do you know why? Read about the basics-why we use them, their importance, how to use them, and what tools you need to get started making your own anchor charts!

It’s no secret that I love anchor charts. We used them all the time in our classroom and for everything! From teaching procedures and setting expectations at the beginning of the year to mini-lessons throughout the year to reviewing our learning, we used them constantly! Sometimes I think it’s easy for us, especially as elementary teachers, […]

Integrating Science into Reading and Writing

Integrating science into reading and writing is a breeze once you see how this teacher does it! She provides a detailed look into how she squeezes it all in!

Science was, hands down, a favorite time in my class for all of my students year after year! We were not only able to explore fun topics, but we were able to get our hands dirty and carry the topic throughout the day as we learned reading and writing skills.  And let’s be honest–with everything […]

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